Total Eclipse of the Heart
by ClockworkScales
Summary: Post Journey's End. Rose has a breakdown about The Doctor and the blue-suited Doctor that is with her. 10.5/Rose. A note: The song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is not mine...


Total Eclipse of the Heart

The sun was gleaming cheerfully through the window of Rose's car and Rose listened quietly to the music as she drove down a crowded street. She had heard the song before but she never felt much for it now that she really could feel what the singer was feeling. Rose bit her lip, struggling to keep herself steady.

Her Doctor was sitting next to her and was staring in deep concentration at the radio, listening to the music no doubt.

'I like this song.' He muttered, then looked up at Rose and grinned, 'Turn around… Bright eyes.'

Rose turned to him, and with her eyes welling with tears as she continued the song in a croaky voice, 'Every now and then I fall apart.'

The Doctor stared into her face sadly, then looked up and pointed.

'Green light, Rose.'

Rose slammed her foot down on the accelerator and they zoomed forward.

They were on their way to the shops to buy The Doctor some new clothes as he clearly couldn't wear the same blue suit the whole time in this parallel universe.

The song wailed and emotions crashed in her head, causing more tears to fly down her cheeks. The indicator clicked and Rose pulled over. She couldn't drive in such a condition. Her shoulders shook and she crossed her arms on the steering wheel, her head in her arms. The Doctor turned towards her and placed a hand on her lower back, somewhat awkwardly Rose noted.

'What's wrong…?' The Doctor asked, 'I didn't think the song was that bad!'

Rose laughed, paused then started crying again.

'I don't understand…' The Doctor mumbled, 'did I do something wrong?'

'No…' Rose sniffed, 'No you didn't. I'm just so confused!'

The Doctor's spare hand reached to Rose's cheek and she let him turn her face towards him; 'Tell me about it.'

Rose composed herself and realised the song was still booming through the radio. She switched it off.

'I just… The Doctor leaves you with me and says 'Yes that's me, love him not me' and so I'm confused because even though you are the Doctor, you're not.'

The Doctor nodded, 'I can see how that would be hard.'

His eyes studied hers and Rose could only think of when The Doctor did that before, the real Doctor.

'You don't think I'm real?' he asked as if he had read Rose's mind.

The blonde gasped and shook her head, 'No, I know you're real.'

'Then what's the problem?' The Doctor asked with a goofy grin that Rose couldn't help but smile at.

'I don't know… You're not the Doctor, but then again you are The Doctor, but you're not MY Doctor.'

The Doctor looked hurt at this statement. His eyes grew round and his bottom lip jutted out.

'I love you, and you love me… Doesn't that make me your Doctor?'

Rose stared blankly at The Doctor and looked guiltily at her sneakers before looking up again, her eyes determined.

'You're right. That's true. I'm… so stupid.'

The Doctor smiled, his eyes clearly full of joy at this statement. But then his eyes widened in alarm, 'I'm not glad you think you're stupid, I'm just glad that-'

'I know what you mean, Doctor!' she reassured him and ruffled his hair, 'you're my little blue bird.'

'Little blue bird? What is that supposed to mean?'

Rose shrugged and grinned, 'I dunno, I just thought it suited you.'

She paused then burst out laughing at her pun.

'What? What?!' The Doctor asked, completely bewildered.

'Blue… suited… Doctor.' Rose choked, wiping her eyes.

The Doctor leant forward and kissed her on the cheek, leaving a shadow of his love for her. Rose restarted the car with a rumble and drove back onto the road. She realised that The Doctor in the other universe hadn't just given her a weird copy of him, but this Doctor contained his heart and the part of him that could and would love her. She turned to face the Doctor and smirked at him and then braked abruptly at a stop sign making the car behind her honk its horn angrily.

Rose opened the window and screamed back at it, 'Hey, don't you honk at me, you wanker!'

She cranked up the window to muffle the sounds of a man yelling behind her. Rose giggled and The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her.

'What?' she asked, a malicious smile creeping across her face, 'This is London.'

'And this is a Rose Tyler who has gone completely mad,' The Doctor said, 'and this,' he pointed to himself, 'is a Doctor who is very, very pleased.'

They both grinned at each other.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, The Doctor in his brown suit tinkered with the controls of his time machine, the Tardis. As he listened to the final moments of a song, a salty well of a tear fell down his face at the same time as Bonnie Tyler's singing came to a much softer sound…

Once upon a time I was falling in love  
But now I'm only falling apart  
There's nothing I can do  
A total eclipse of the heart

He flicked a switch on the control board to send himself lurching forward. His next adventure as a Time Lord was waiting and he was alone… completely alone… but he would always keep running.

Once upon a time there was light in my life  
But now there's only love in the dark  
Nothing I can say  
A total eclipse of the heart.


End file.
